Is there a term for this?

I've said before I think that my main hobby is language study, primarily French, my main strength in language study is pattern recognition, and I could listen to a radio station for months and not hear a particular phrase, but as soon as I've seen it 3 (sometimes less) times in a book or a newspaper, I hear it EVERYWHERE. With me I think part of it is when I listen I'm just listening to pick out things I know, and seeing how they are used. It's the idea that before you get a new car you never see it, but when you get it you see them all over the place. I've often wondered if there was a term for this sort of pattern recognition?

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Yep! It's called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.

Wow. I've never heard of that. That's awesome. Thanks LittleEarthquakes!

Now you'll be seeing the expression "baader-meinhof phenomenon" all over the place...

That's how it goes... the last phrase I kept seeing in Harry Potter, it was the phrase bien sûr, which means something like of course, I think of it like well sure, there is also mais oui, but apparently this is the more common of the two. Thanks for the name!

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bein sur appears german in origin btw

Cool! It's extremely popular in French. Bien means well, sûr means sure.

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